An Autumn Evening
by Fullmetal.Alchemist.Fan
Summary: The first chapter is a one-shot, or a story all in itself. What will happen after the end of the third Skulduggery Pleasant series?
1. The Brown Haired Girl

A whisper on the wind drifted softly through unsuspecting ears, nosier by the second. It got caught and was silenced in a heartbeat when it mingled with the unbearable sounds of a party down at a Lexi Suites and Inn, hidden behind a favorable McDonalds ®. People danced crazily, jumping up and down and shaking their fists in the air. Pink and purple lights flashed, turning everything around them a shade of violet, lavender, or rose. The partiers laughed, drank, and swayed side to side maniacally as the beat of the music practically slit open their ear drums.

A girl with pale green eyes leaned against the wall of the McDonalds ® restaurant, thinking down on the older partiers in the hotel. Her long, autumn brown hair flowed down her back, shining like a piece of clean, clear glass and smoother than silk. Her mouth just barely gaped as she stayed hidden in her own thoughts.

Engineers and secretaries in black, grey, and mouse brown suits hurried past her on they way home, mingling teenagers and couples getting in their way. The girl watched blankly from her place on the red brick wall of the McDonalds ®.

A sharp bird call shook her out of her head, and she raised two fingers to her temple, a headache throbbing in her head. "Whoa," she slurred drowsily. She had slumped against that wall for three hours, falling into the musical trance of the beat in the Lexi Suites and Inn, which came from the large, pale golden ballroom decorated with angels and white, puffy clouds.

A balloon drifted in front of her, and she grabbed it quickly, and looked down the street to her right when she heard a boy cry out.

A small toddler waddled up to her, eyes closed and mouth open in a wide whine. Hands outstretched, he drooled onto his shirt and cried even louder. "Here," she offered the red-and-white striped balloon to the little boy. He wiped the tears off of his face with his shirt sleeve, and smiled, "Thwank you!"


	2. The Nerd and The Speaker of Japan

Jessica glared at Rosemary, who smiled at her and twirled around. Blinking her pale green eyes, she stared at the twirling 10-year-old spinning in circles around the room.

"Why are you so interested in ballet?" Jessica ran a confused hand through her long, straight, brown hair.

"It's easy. 1, 2, 3!" the 10-year-old spun three times then leapt high into the air, her dark, ashy skin glowing in the dusty sunlight filtered through the window.

"Seriously, Rose? Seriously?"

"I'm as serious as can be," Rosemary stopped twirling and flattened her flowered dress, which stretched down to her ankles. She frowned at Jessica, who frowned back, "No it's not."

"Hell yeah it is."

"Wash your mouth out!" Jessica ordered angrily.

Rose sneered at the teenager and stalked towards the bathroom.

"And actually do what I say instead of sitting on the toilet this time," Jessica called.

Rosemary screamed in frustration, and right after Jessica could hear the sink being turned on.

"And use soap!"

Jessica just narrowly dodged a flying soap holder.

~.~

Jessica sat out on the balcony, resting her chin on her just-washed hands. She stared out at the silvery stars, glaring at them as if daring them to give her something better to do.

"Jess?"

Jessica glared over her shoulder, "Who called me?"

"Jessss…"

Jessica furrowed her brow in frustration. Ever since she hung out that one evening, she had been hearing Rose calling her for no reason every now and then. She didn't know why. But she did know that she'd pound the attitude out of the little brat when she found her.

"Okay, Rose, you can cut the act now," Jessica pounded her fist into her palm, searching her room for the small girl. She couldn't see nor hear her anymore, "Rose?"

"Jessssiiiicaaaaa…"

Jessica started to sweat a little. Rose didn't have a deep voice like that. "Rose, is that you?"

"JessiiiiCAAAAAAA…a."

The calling finally stopped. Jessica frowned, thinking that someone had snuck into the house. Quickly grabbing a baseball bat she had used in middle school for protection, she slunk into Rose's dark room. Turning the light on before she went in, she held the bat high as she tip-toed into the room.

"Rose-"

Screaming as she was pulled back by the neck, she turned to use her bat, but it was no longer in her hands. It still felt like she had been holding it, though…

"Let go!" her screams were muffled as the-whatever it was-pulled her into Rose's closet and shut the door. Jessica kept flailing even though sleepiness crept onto her eyelids and weighed them down.

"Ro…se…" she held a hand out towards the closet door, but it was slowly getting darker…she couldn't see the light from Rosemary's room anymore…and she went unconscious.

~.~

"Wh…where am I?" Jessica held her pounding head in pain, "Who took me here…?" She slightly remembered her last bout of struggle, but not much else about anything that had happened.

She quickly stood up, and then regretted it, for she became dizzy and the headache pounded even harder on her skull as she did so.

She surveyed her surroundings, and she decided to herself that she was in an evergreen forest. There wasn't much grass, though-mostly bare, sandy earth.

"Ānode,-me o samashi, ha~a~tsu no ka?"

"What the…?" Jessica looked around for the owner of the voice.

"He asked if you were awake," another voice responded.

Jessica soon found the two were standing in front of her. One had short green hair and glasses, and the other had longer, caramel brown hair and a shark tooth necklace. She found both of them actually had glasses, but the brown-haired guy had taken them off as soon as she recognized their figures.

"Who are you…?" she asked warily, getting into a fighting stance she saw in a movie she couldn't remember the name of.

"Watashi no namae wa Josefu desu," the brown-haired man said. Jessica mentally smacked herself for thinking the green-haired nerd would answer in that weird language. _That language sounds familiar, though…_

"His name is Joseph. I'm Carl," the nerd said. Joseph glared at Carl, then said, "... To watashi no yūjin no namae ga Kāru wa..."

"Joseph is speaking Japanese by the way," Carl mentioned after introducing both of themselves.

"I'm…J-" Jessica started, but cut herself off.

"You're…" Carl raised his eyebrow.

"Josie…" Jessica finished, _Ugh! What a stupid name!_

"Jōjī?" Joseph raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…Josie…" Jessica nodded.

Carl smirked at Jessica, and she didn't know why, when Carl turned around and disappeared into the trees. Joseph smiled at Jessica and turned halfway, holding out a hand to her, "Watashi-tachi to issho ni ki." Then he followed Carl and disappeared.

"What…?" Jessica furrowed her brow. Deciding she'd rather be with wannabe perverts than alone with a hungry wolf, she ran after Joseph, "Wait!"

When she caught up to them, they were out of the forest and on a plain overlooking a colorful town.

"Wow!" Jessica smiled, surveying the sight in front of her, "It's like a candy shop!"

"Yeah," Carl grinned.

"Kore wa, Kottontaun to yoba reru yo!" Joseph said irritatedly.

"That's Cotton Town down there," Carl explained, "It's Joseph's hometown, so I think he's a bit annoyed you called it Candy Town."

"Kyanditaun wa oroka na namae desu. Oroka na on'nanoko kara kitai sa reru," Joseph huffed and crossed his arms, looking away from Jessica.

"She's not stupid!" Carl argued.

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'Candy Town is a stupid name. Expected from a stupid girl'," Carl huffed and glared at Joseph.

"So…you're kind of like his translator?" Jessica tipped her head to the side.

"Well…mostly only Cotton Town residents speak Japanese in this part of the world," Carl sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Then again, a lot of people still like to talk with them, even if they don't understand, because they are the most powerful magic-users of all time."

"Magic?" Jessica gasped.

"Majikku. Soshite, yosefu wa machigatte i masu. Wareware dake de SPIRIT - supiritto - wanzu o kaihō suru koto ga deki masu shite irunode, watashi-tachi wa osore rareru yo!" Joseph blurted out, glaring at Jessica in a fierce way. Jessica flinched back, "S-sorry?"

"He said Cotton Town residents are feared because they are the only ones who can free the Fearless Ones," Carl translated, "They use their spirit to open the gates."

"Oh," Jessica blinked in confusion, "What kind of spirit?"

"Town spirit," Carl smiled suddenly, "That's why they're so happy and colorful. Hey, why don't we get some famous Cotton Town cotton candy?"

"Men kashi?" Joseph perked up from his bout of anger.

"Cotton candy?" Jessica smiled, "Alright!"


End file.
